In July 1985, a Boeing 737-200A aircraft took off from Hong Kong International Airport – then located at Kai Tak on the Kowloon peninsula – to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. That flight marked the start of a new chapter in Hong Kong aviation, as it was the first commercial flight of Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, an entity that was to grow into Hong Kong’s international carrier known as Cathay Dragon.

Starting with one aircraft, Cathay Dragon now develops to an award-winning Hong Kong-based carrier owning more than forty aircraft, and with a network covering the most popular travel destinations as well as business ports in Asia Pacific region. Cathay Dragon is well-recognised by its passengers of its extensive network in China. Given the flourishing economy in Mainland cities and aviation hub synergy of Hong Kong, Cathay Dragon plays an increasingly important role in connecting passengers around the globe and the Mainland China.

Cathay Dragon is also the first local airline making investment in local pilot training. In late 1980s, the first generation pilot students joined the pilot training scheme and became the first batch locally born Chinese pilots. To date, over 150 cadets have successfully completed the scheme.

Cathay Dragon is a member of Cathay Pacific Group, affiliate member of oneworld® and partner of Asia Miles. There is much more to a successful airline than planes and destinations, however, and it is here that Cathay Dragon has really made its mark – through people who, day after day, contribute their passion, vision and hard work to building and maintaining Cathay Dragon’s reputation for reliability, friendliness, innovation and dynamism.

In April, Dragonair was honoured the “Air Cargo Excellence Award 2011” in the category of “Up to 199,999 tonnes” carriers. The Award was given by “Air Cargo World” Magazine based on the result of 7th Annual Air Cargo Excellence Survey.

In June, Dragonair was voted the “World’s Best Regional Airline” and “Best Regional Airline Asia” in the World Airline Survey 2011, which was conducted by Skytrax of the United Kingdom.

In October, Dragonair won the “Best Regional Airline” award in the 22nd Annual TTG Travel Awards and was honoured the title of “2011 Asia Excellence Brand” by news and current affairs magazine Yazhou Zhoukan.

On April 28, Dragonair launched “Manage My Booking”, the new online service enabling passengers to manage their own travel itineraries by retrieving the most up-to-date flight status and enabling personal information to be amended or updated online.

On May 13, Dragonair further extended its cross-border upstream check-in service by allowing passengers to check in and have the boarding pass issued at Shenzhen downtown.

On September 7, Dragonair’s frequent flyer visitors, who are eligible members of its Marco Polo Club,can pass more quickly through immigration using the Frequent Visitor e-Channels at Hong Kong International Airport.

On September 14, Dragonair launches twice-daily passenger service to Guangzhou, enhancing connectivity via Hong Kong to the rest of the world.

On October 1, Dragonair increases passenger flights to Kathmandu from 3 to 5 per week. The flight will be operated using an A330 aircraft which offers greater capacity for both passengers and cargo.

On October 25, Dragonair moves its counter operations at Hong Kong International Airport to Aisle H in the Departure Hall of Terminal 1.

On December 14, Dragonair introduces enhanced features on the “Manage My Booking” facility, offering passengers a more comprehensive online travel tool to take control of their journey. Additional features include advanced seat reservation, special meal request, etc.

On July 4, Dragonair’s Xiamen freighter service was increased to thricely-weekly.

On July 21, Dragonair increased passenger flights to Ningbo from seven to 10 per week.

In July, Dragonair had been voted a winner in the Airline Category in the Yahoo!Emotive Brand Award 2007-2008 for the third consecutive year.

On August 1, Dragonair Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport has been given a facelift and has been renamed the "G16 Lounge".

In August, Dragonair has been voted "Best Regional Airline: SE Asia" for the first time in the Skytrax international passenger survey.

On September 1, Dragonair increased passenger flights to Xiamen from 14 to 18 per week.

On October 1, Dragonair and its sister airline Cathay Pacific Airways opened the first airline-branded arrival lounge, “The Arrival”, at Hong Kong International Airport.

On October 26, Dragonair launched a daily passenger service to Hanoi, marking the first time for Dragonair to operate scheduled passenger flights to Vietnam.

On November 3, Dragonair launched Self-Print Boarding Pass service at Hong Kong International Airport offering greater convenience to travellers.

On November 18, Dragonair launched the new mobile site - m.dragonair.com – for passengers to access through their mobile devices.

On December 1, Dragonair extended its cross-border upstream check-in service by providing a new service which allows passengers to check in and have the boarding pass issued at Shenzhen International Airport.

On December 15, Dragonair launched a fifth-weekly passenger service to Manila, marking the first time for the airline to operate scheduled passenger flights to the Philippines.

On December 18, Dragonair launched mobile check-in service for passengers to check in through the mobile site - m.dragonair.com.

On 19 January, Dragonair launched a thrice-weekly passenger service to Busan.

In January, Dragonair announced it flew a record number of passengers and carried a record amount of freight in 2006. The number of passengers totaled 5,568,508, while total cargo volume was 395,384 tonnes.

On 31 January, Dragonair took delivery of the second of five new 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighters.

On 9 March, Dragonair was named the recipient of the Silver award in the Food or Beverage category of the 2006 Mercury Award, bestowed by the International Travel Catering Association.

In June, Three of Dragonair's Airbus A330 aircraft featured the official logo to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In June, Dragonair was appointed as the Official Carrier for the "Pride of China: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Palace Museum" exhibition, taking up the role of transporting world-acclaimed masterpieces of Chinese art from Beijing to Hong Kong.

In July 1, Dragonair's Busan service becomes daily.

In July, Dragonair was voted Best Airline - China for sixth consecutive year in the international Skytrax passenger survey.

In July, Dragonair was named a winner in the Yahoo!Emotive Brand Award 2006-2007 airline category for second consecutive year and the Top 7 Emotive Brand Award for the first time.

On August 1, Dragonair launched daily passenger services to Chongqing and Xian, while services to Fuzhou were double to 14 a week.

On 28 October, Dragonair launched a daily service to Fukuoka and three-times weekly flights to Sendai.

On 28 October, Dragonair launched charter services to Taichung.

In October, donations to Dragonair's Change for Conservation inflight charity programme surpassed HK$6 million, with the funds being used to benefit projects by The Nature Conservancy in China' s Yunnan province.

On November 1, Dragonair became the affiliate member of oneworldR, the leading quality global airline alliance.

On December 2, Dragonair launched a fourth-weekly service to Kathmandu.

On December 6, Dragonair was voted 'Top Airline for Potential Value' at the 2007 World Traveller Awards.

On December 14, Dragonair is voted 'Best Airline (China)' in the TravelWeeklyChina 2007 Industry Awards.

In January, Dragonair announced it flew a record number of passengers and carried a record amount of freight in 2005. The number of passengers totalled 5,029,285, the first time the airline had flown more than five million travellers in one year, while total cargo volume was 385,338 tonnes.

In February, donations to Dragonair's Change for Conservation inflight charity programme surpassed HK$4 million, with the funds being used to benefit projects by The Nature Conservancy in China's Yunnan province.

On 28 April, Dragonair wet-leased an A330 to Air China, brining the total number of Dragonair aircraft wet-leased to Air China to four - three A330s and one A320.

In April, Dragonair flew a record number of passengers for one month of 481,327.

On 12 May, the second phase of the Dragonair Aviation Certificate Programme, comprising a mentorship scheme, began.

On 16 May, Dragonair was named the winner in the Yahoo! Emotive Brand Award 2005-2006 airline category.

In June, Dragonair was voted Best Airline - China for a fifth consecutive year in the international Skytrax passenger survey.

On 8 July, a door-cutting ceremony was held to mark an important stage in the conversion of the first of five new Dragonair freighter aircraft in Xiamen. The aircraft, a Boeing 747-400, should enter service in November.

In July, a record 519,449 passengers flew with Dragonair, the first time in the airline's history it had flown more than half a million customers in one month.

In August, Dragonair was approved as a Type Rating Training Organisation by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.

On 14 September, Dragonair was voted Best China Airline in 2006 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards for a second consecutive year.

On 28 September, Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways.

On 25 October, Dragonair took delivery of its 16th Airbus A330.

On 26 October, Dragonair took delivery of the first of five new 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighters.

On 15 November, Dragonair was voted Best Airline Economy Class in 2006 Business Traveller China Travel Awards for a second consecutive year.

On 15 December, Dragonair launched a daily passenger service to Phuket.

On 18 March, Dragonair took delivery of its 11th Airbus A330, taking the number of aircraft in its passenger fleet to 27.

On 2 April, Dragonair launched a thrice-weekly freighter service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

On 29 April, Dragonair took delivery of its 11th Airbus A320.

On 5 May, Dragonair took delivery of its 12th Airbus A330, which features a special livery to celebrate the airline's 20th anniversary.

On 2 June, Dragonair was voted Best Airline - China for a fourth consecutive year in the Skytrax passenger survey. The survey measured more than 35 different aspects of passenger satisfaction and the final total of eligible survey nominations was 12.3 million.

On 9 July, Dragonair launched a weekly charter service to Urumqi. The service operated until October 8.

In March, all Dragonair's regular flights converted to scheduled services.

On 26 June, Dragonair moved into its purpose-built headquarters, Dragonair House, at Chek Lap Kok. The building, designed to meet the airline's future expansion, features a fully-equipped Flight Training Centre. It was officially opened by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Tung Chee Hwa, on 14 December.

On 28 July, Dragonair's first all-cargo service began operations with the inaugural flight of a Boeing 747-200 freighter bound for the Middle East and Europe.

Dragonair launched "The Elite", a loyalty programme designed to recognise and reward its most frequent passengers.

China National Aviation Corporation (Group) Ltd. (CNAC Group) purchased a 35.86% interest in Dragonair to become the largest shareholder. CITIC Pacific retained 28.50%, Swire/Cathay Pacific 25.50% and the Chao Family 5.02%.

Dragonair and Dah Chong Hong established a joint venture to provide repair and maintenance services on ground support equipment at Chek Lap Kok.

In May, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Macau International Investment Co. on the initiative of Mr. K.P. Chao, the airline's present honorary chairman. The airline has one aircraft, a Boeing 737-200A.

In July, Air Operators Certificate (AOC) was issued to Dragonair by the Hong Kong Government. The airline's first flight departed Hong Kong for Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.